Wednesday, February 18, 2009

My Favorite Meal of the Day

Dinner is my meal. It's the one meal that I rarely miss. And often times, there are extra people around my table, something that I've come to love. I love having extra faces around the table. I love the conversation. I love to share a good bottle of wine. So the recipe today is pork. Up until about a year ago, the only pork I had ever eaten was ribs. So.... one day I got a wild hair and gave it a try. I liked it. Though, it is a little dyer than chicken, it's still something different. Indonesian Lime Pork Tenderloin (I have no idea why this is called what it is, but you can give it whatever name you want... like Limey Pork, or Pork Marinated with a Bunch of Weird Stuff) Ingredients:2 pork tenderloins3 tablespoons lime juice3 tablespoons soy sauce1 teaspoon red pepper flakes (more or less if you want)1 teaspoon ground gingerFresh Ginger to garnish1 clove chopped garlic table spoon olive oilMix first 4 ingredients and let pork marinate in them for a couple hours. (I only had mine for 1/2 hour and it turned out just fine) Heat olive oil and cook garlic for a minute in skillet and then add the pork. Cook for about seven minutes on each side adding the rest of the marinade to the pan as it boils down. If you need to add water to keep pork moist, do so. Garnish with fresh ginger if you want (remember a little goes a long way with ginger!)Now, I normally don't just cook one thing, there's normally a couple and almost always a dessert (but that's not until Friday, so you'll have to wait) When I was sick in bed for the entire month of January I watched the food network when I did watch TV, which wasn't all that much, but one day, Giada made three side dishes in a row in a matter one half hour that I absolutely had to make. This is one of them. I thought after the artichoke dip I made ten times in three weeks during the Christmas season, I would be all artichoked out. But this... this is FABULOUS. I loved it. (In fact I'm eating it right now in between typing)Artichoke GratinataIngredients:3 tablespoons olive oil1 garlic clove, minced1 pound frozen artichoke hearts, thawed2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves (I ran out of parsley, so I just used dried)3/4 teaspoon salt1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes1/2 cup chicken broth1/4 cup Marsala wine2 tablespoons butter1/3 cup plainbread crumbs (I used Italian)1/3 cup grated Parmesan Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.Warm the olive oil in a heavy bottom skillet over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the artichoke hearts, parsley, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes and cook until the artichoke hearts are starting to brown at the edges, about 3 minutes. Add the chicken broth and wine and simmer for 3 minutes. Transfer the artichoke mixture to a 2-quart baking dish.Melt the butter in the same skillet used to cook the artichokes. In a small bowl mix the melted butter with the bread crumbs. Stir in the Parmesan and top the artichokes with the bread crumbs. Bake until the top is golden, about 10 minutes.

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Never apologize for your own sense of beauty. Nobody can tell you what you should love. Do what you do brazenly and unapologetically. You cannot build your sense of aesthetics on a consensus.
~Author Unkown